Turning Motivation Research into Teaching Strategies You Can Use

What motivates college students? Surprisingly, it's the same thing that motivates us (for the most part!). As instructors, one of our responsibilities is to create and support students' motivation to learn in our courses. How can we do this efficiently and effectively?

In this session, we will have an active discussion about what motivates us to learn and how our own experiences connect to what research says motivates learners. Identifying the reasons why our own motivation has increased or decreased for various activities helps us understand why our students enthusiastically engage in some tasks, but complain about or give up on others. After learning about four key principles of motivation, we will consider what strategies you might profitably try this semester.

As a result of attending this session, you will be able to:

Identify key principles of motivation;

Recognize the impact of our instruction on student motivation; and

Develop strategies to support students' motivation.

Session Date

9/9/2015

Presenter Bio

Sara M. Fulmer, Ph.D., is the program manager for faculty development at the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning. Sara has facilitated interventions to help teachers understand student motivation and to design instruction that supports student motivation and learning. Her research also examines students' motivation when engaging in challenging learning activities, and how we can support their motivation in these contexts. Sara has taught in K–6 and college classrooms. As a fitness instructor, she enjoys motivating others to continually challenge themselves.